hen we were (Ashan, Sanketha and Me) climbing Pettigala I pointed my finger to a far end and asked Ashan whether it’s Horton plains. He replied me with a smile “Hariya Nogiya Thenna “. Surprised???? Yes for more than 30 years of my life I had never been to Horton Plains. So I was desperately needed to do HP ASAP and was in a hunger to do many trails within a short period. Within 3 days we ( Me and my friend Thenuka ) were able to cover five paths/trails of Horton Plains

It was a longtime dream of mine to tackle the devil staircase. But because most of the travels went by 4×4’s on this road I was a bit skeptical how my vehicle, which is a 2wd(RWD) would perform. So on our way back from Horton planes we decided to travel via this road. Luckily there weren’t many landslides which could have made our journey more difficult. But the mist did block our view of the beautiful sceneries.

The idea of seeking knuckles like a beautiful dream of a seeker is born in my heart before long time ago. The end of my interest is run out of this journey with beautiful memories. I give my special thank to “Lakdasun” because of the help for materialize my dream.

So without even informing Mrs.Mayakaduwa I started my journey towards Bambarakanda. I left home around 4.30 and came to Kaduwela by a Three-wheeler and got in to a Badulla CTB Bus. Neither bus nor me in a hurry so we slowly reached Kalupahana(just before the 172nd Mile post) around 10.30am(It stopped for breakfast at Pelmadulla).Then I took a TukTuk and reached the Bambarakanda rest around 11.00 am.

ince we have enough time, we decided to go to Devil’s Staircase around 2.00 pm. Road beyond BHR was very good (Concreted / paved). Even though we expect bad road, less than 2 kms from BHR road condition was horrible. After climbing about ½ km we decided to revise the vehicle for ½ km and came back to BHR.

This journey we did some times back, most of the members of the crew are members of “Dumbara Mithuro” Environmental and Cultural Society. The society is devoted for the conservation activities in the Knuckles mountain range. On the other hand expedition in the knuckles forest is another prime objective of the society.

We were trying to explore Doowili falls since few years. Our previous attempts from Walpolamulla(due to poor preparation and injury), Babarella (misleading Guide called Mr. Ranjith) failed due to various reasons. But we agreed among ourselves to try for one last time.
We started form Ragama about 4.00 in the morning. The crew was 4 and used car as our mode of transportation..

This whole idea of a “night climb” was in my mind for a while and was wondering where to try it out first. After evaluating the trails I have done already finally it was decided that I should try it on Bambarakanda first. The intention was purely based on excitement and the urge to try something different without following the same course as usual.

The moment I read Bambarakanda trail reports on Lakdasun, the adventurer inside me kept saying “wanna go, wanna go, wanna go” like a mantra. So I tried to get a friend or two to join me but in the end I was left alone with no one to join me. Since I’ve already been to N’Eliya and around all on my own before, I thought of doing this too all on my own

From the beginning of this year I had planned to do a hike along the Bambaraknda – Ohiya track. August was my target month and I was thinking of doing this on my own even if my friends would not join me (I thought they might not be interested in a long hike). But surprisingly they all agreed to join me and were quite interesting in this hike.

Everything was set for the journey and we took off from Moratuwa around 6 p.m., after a full day work at office. The idea was to travel somewhere close to Kalupahana and start journey in the next day early morning as we needed a full day to cover both off-road driving and hiking. We reserved ‘The Jungle Rest’ (just 500m away from the Belihuloya Rest House) which was situated away from the road as the name implies. The place was quite ok and affordable.

World’s End Lodge is situated in Lower Ohiya. The location is fantastic and the facilities are decent. This is my fourth visit to World’s End Lodge and I’ve found the facilities improving with each visit. This place is certainly not for someone looking for luxury accommodation but is a great place for anyone who enjoys nature.